Chiefs 2026
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By my count that now means only five squad places to fill:
LH prop (Benet Kumeroa, but he is playing TH now). Will Martin as a young LH.
Lock (Aisake Vakasioula)
Lock/loose forward (Jayden Sa)
Loose forward (let's poach Johnny Lee)
Midfield (Gibson Popoali'i)It's possible that Charlie Sinton replaces Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi as the third halfback. I'd select one less lock (five rather than six) and include another outside back. Isaac Hutchinson is returning from a major injury so extra cover would help. Tepaea Cook-Savage can play fullback and wing, and I suppose you can use a WTG player. AB rest to consider when choosing the WTG players.
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I see that Oli Mathis has said that one of the reasons he chose the Crusaders was that a number of his 1st XV friends are there.
It made me look at how many of the Chiefs NDC players have actually graduated to the full squad. Not a good return under McMillan's watch as the majority have gone elsewhere. You're welcome Highlanders!
Mason Tupaea - Blues
Oli Mathis, Aki Tuivailala - Crusaders
Josh Bartlett, Nikora Broughton, Veveni Lasaqa, Adam Lennox - HighlandersSome others have gone overseas (Australia, Japan). Fiti Sa is the only player at this stage who has moved up, but is yet to play. There may be a couple more soon.
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@gt12 said in Chiefs 2026:
Fact is that the Chiefs could have and should have signed him up far earlier.
Which is the point I am making. Mathis could have been signed last year when on a NDC, and a few others could have been in a similar situation in previous years. You need to show these young guys a clear pathway to a full contract.
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Sorry, I missed that was your point. I'm not sure that many from that list were worth really trying to keep, so I'm prepared to give the coaches some leeway on those others.
Broughton was a miss perhaps but we have plenty of loosies (could have allowed us to ship off Boshier a bit earlier).
Mathis though, is clear quality in a position we are not actually strong towards. Very strange he wasn't offered a protected position this year and should have had a full spot offered for 2026. That's on the Chiefs for letting him go to the Saders in the first place.
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@Bovidae said in Chiefs 2026:
@gt12 said in Chiefs 2026:
Fact is that the Chiefs could have and should have signed him up far earlier.
Which is the point I am making. Mathis could have been signed last year when on a NDC, and a few others could have been in a similar situation in previous years. You need to show these young guys a clear pathway to a full contract.
If you are a young loosie wanting to get gametime, why would you stick with the Chiefs. They are stacked. There is a much easier route for him at the Crusaders.
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@SouthernMann said in Chiefs 2026:
@Bovidae said in Chiefs 2026:
@gt12 said in Chiefs 2026:
Fact is that the Chiefs could have and should have signed him up far earlier.
Which is the point I am making. Mathis could have been signed last year when on a NDC, and a few others could have been in a similar situation in previous years. You need to show these young guys a clear pathway to a full contract.
If you are a young loosie wanting to get gametime, why would you stick with the Chiefs. They are stacked. There is a much easier route for him at the Crusaders.
That's a fair point, especially if Blackadder is off.
In terms of Super level 7s though, we aren't actually that strong - we have Jacobson likely as our first choice, given the 6/8 options, then Brown.
Sadly I expect us to still have Boshier, but had we moved faster on Mathis, we could have had him there in that spot in the full squad.
I like Brown, but he feels very important now, as Jacobson is likely to be injured for half of the year.
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@Bovidae said in Chiefs 2026:
As I have mentioned there is no need to replace M Wrampling with another 6/8. It could and should be a no.7.
100% on that. It seems strange that this spot wasn't offered to the best local young talent in years.
If he was offered a full spot and turned it down, something is wrong.
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Just curious, what are Chiefs fans thoughts on Boshier being in the ABs XV. Clearly viewed high enough by national selectors, yet Chiefs supporters sounding unbothered about his spot in the squad. From the outside I'm a bit surprised to see him up the pecking order yet now have an expectation for him to feature regularly for Chiefs
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McMillan thought highly enough of Boshier to make him a VC. He does have talent being a former NZ U20 rep. I doubt he makes the AB XV if the likes of Kellow are fit. But even then it was still a big surprise.
My problem is that McMillan tried to make him into a 7 when clearly his best position is no.8. It was just as bizarre to see him as a no.6 against the Barbarians.
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@gt12 said in Chiefs 2026:
If he was offered a full spot and turned it down, something is wrong.
He was offered a full contract for 2026-27, so that suggests another loose forward has been signed.
Mathis is still keen to continue playing for Waikato.
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disappointing that we offered him a full time contract and he turned it down.i can understand that the lifestyle suits him down south as i have lived in the south island for 20 odd yrs and wouldnt return to north island
he is far from the finished product. would need to add another 5 to 8 kgs to get to international level and the are quite a few areas of his game that would need to improve.i actually didnt think he played that good for waikato this year except for the odd moment .
good luck to him we carnt keep them all and we are good at picking up some us well -
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